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"id": 237226,
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"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I was saying that Parliament's budget which comes directly to us and our 3334 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 1, 2006 audited accounts as Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) should be availed for public scrutiny. This being a new concept, we should be able to grow to find the strengths and weaknesses of the new system that we are instituting. With regard to Capital Gains Tax, I wish to state that I support the taxation measures in the Finance Bill. Yesterday, an hon. Member said that the Capital Gains Tax is aimed at the poor. This is totally erroneous. The Capital Gains Tax is mainly aimed at people with property to sell and those with deposits that are earning interest in banks. This is a laudable move and it will help equalise wealth in that those who have more money are going to be taxed a little bit more to enable those funds to be utilised for national development thereby bringing equity in wealth distribution. It is necessary that, as hon. Members, we seek information as we make our contributions to avoid misleading the public on concepts. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to respond to the issue that independent institutions are under-taxed by this Government. How erroneous that is! There is a very erroneous concept creeping in our country today. Independent operation of autonomous institutions is recognised by this Government and the law. However, no institution; independent or not, is free from public accountability and scrutiny and from financial and audit regulations that are in place in this country. Therefore, when queries from the Controller and Auditor-General and Accounting Officers are put to independent institutions, unless there are people in this House who support opaqueness, then nobody should claim that this amounts to harassment of those independent agencies. Answering audit queries is a regular feature. Even for us in this House, when we travel, we have to account for the imprests that we collect and travel with. So, we should try to build an understanding within the nation that nobody is above public scrutiny and financial and audit regulations. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen, in the recent past, a number of institutions asking for financial independence. It must be borne in mind that having your own budget does not remove you from having to answer audit queries or presenting your accounts for auditing by the Controller and Auditor-General. This Government has, in fact, brought more autonomous agencies working with it more than any other Government in recent times. We are working with them well and whatever challenges that confront us, they will all be dealt with in the manner expected of a responsible Government. May I express my disappointment at our conduct sometimes as hon. Members. One wonders whether it is in order for us, as a House to demand accountability and transparency if we ourselves fall short of those standards. Can a Committee of this House behave like an investigation agency and a judge at the same time? Can a Committee of this House purport to override the statutory powers of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to supervise banks? Can a Committee of this House purport to order the reopening of a bank when a matter is in court being ventilated and when the law is very clear on the mandate of the Committee? There have been happenings in recent times that are putting us, as a House, under scrutiny. It is time we started investigating conflict of interest among hon. Members in this House, in our Committees and elsewhere. Our pronouncements should not be influenced by external factors. Even when bringing Motions and Bills, we should start looking at each other to find out whether somebody is doing it for purposes of promoting our country and good citizenry, or for other ulterior motives. We need to be transparent and accountable. That is why I was suggesting that, as a House, we must stop double speak. We must call for transparency and accountability by everybody rather than choose to ask for transparency by others, when we ourselves remain very opaque. In recent times, independent institutions have been attacked by sections of the society, including some hon. Members of this House. Is it proper that a person under investigation is the one who attacks an investigator? Those are the questions that we must raise. Is it an act of November 1, 206 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3335 transparency when a person who has direct interest in a case pending before a court, or a litigant or lawyer, advances a certain clause in a Bill because he wants to win the case through this House and not through the courts of law? We need to be vigilant, as hon. Members, so that opaque practices do not choke this House and undermine our ability to contribute to the welfare of this nation. I want to laud the taxation measures in this Bill. All the services we are asking, as hon. Members, the Government to render to our people need finances to undertake. It, therefore, does not make sense to demand that certain categories of taxation be removed, unless one is able to suggest better means of raising the much needed funds. Responsible and constructive criticism means also offering alternatives. If we were to drop this or that taxation measure because a section of the society does not want it, eventually nobody will voluntarily agree to be taxed. We shall all say taxation is not good for us, and at the end of day we shall make the State grind to a halt. It is my view, therefore, that we must exercise responsibility. We must remember that at the end of the day, we are all national leaders and should steer ahead this country together through our joint contributions in this House. We should, therefore, look at the bigger picture in order to make informed contributions. I want to end my contribution by once again supporting this very laudable Bill. I wish to urge my colleagues in the House Departmental Committee on Finance, Trade and Planning to listen carefully to contributions made by hon. Members in order to pick useful suggestions that will come up in the course of their contributions. Finally, May I urge those with conflict of interest to declare their interest whenever they are contributing to issues. This is because we are called upon, as hon. Members, to alert the Chair when a person with a conflict of interest contributes to a matter in the House. When you oppose a taxation measure aimed at an industry you are trading with, you must be upfront. You must stand in this House and let the hon. Members know that your business or your family is trading with the industry affected by that taxation measure. In that way, we will be able to understand you better as you oppose that taxation measure. We can then agree whether your contribution is good, or whether you are only looking inwardly at your own profit or the profit of your family. With those many remarks, I beg to support."
}